smith



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. 'S. H. SMITH.

ART 0R PROCESS 0F CUTTING ARTICLES FROM WOOD.

Patented June 5 1 IIlIIIIIlIIIII WITNESSES ATTORNEYS N4 PETERS.Pnolo-Lhhugnpher. Washin ton. D.C.

v (No Model.) 2 eeeeeeeeeeee 2.

S. E. SMITH.

ART 0 RRRRR ESS O GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG D. No. 278,828.. Patented June5,1883.

NITED STATES PATENT FFlCE SETH H. SMITH, OF DELTA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THESMITH MANUFAOTUR IXG COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ART OR PROCESS OF CUTTING ARTICLES FROM WOOD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 278,828, dated June 5,1883.

Application filed January 31, was. (No model.)

'0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, H. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residingat- Delta, in the county of Fulton and State of Ohio, have invented anew and useful Art or Process of Cutting Articles from \Vood, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to animproved art or method of cuttingcontinuously from a block of wood concave-convex or curved articles,such as thin plates or dishes suitable for gro cers packages and forother purposes; and my invention consists in the improved method ofcutting the said articles continuously in such a manner that they shallall be of exactlythe same size and shape, and with smooth level edges,so that no finishing process shall be nee essa-ry in order to make themready for the market, this being accomplished by first cutting aproperlyshapedshell from the face of a block of wood by a single pass ofa rapidly revolving knife having both ends secured to the shaft or axison which it revolves in front of the face of the block, and next facingoff the block by means of a straight knife or cutter, which is securedat an angle to and re volves with a shaft located in a line with theline of feed, as will be liercinaiterfully de scribed, and particularlypointed out in. the claims.

. In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 is a perspective view ofaplate or dish cut by my improved process. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalvertical sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical transversesectional view on the line a: m in 2. Fi 4 is a perspective view of ablock of wood from which one or more of my improved plates or disheshave been cut. Fig. 5 is alongitudinalvertical sectional view of thesaid block with lines indicating the progress of cutting, and Fig. 6 isa plan view of one of the facings or waste-pieces.

The same letters refer to the same parts in all the figures of thedrawings.

In carrying out my invention it is my purpose to avail myself of amachine embodying in its construct-ion a bent or curved knife mountedupon a revolving shaft, by means of which the article is cut or slicedfrom the end of the block, and a straight knife mounted ,upon arevolving shaft at an angle to the first one, for facing off the block.It will be widerstood from this that the plates, dishes, or otherarticles cut from the block will be true segmental in cross-section,segments of a circle the center of which is the center of the shaftcarryingtthe cutting-knife, while in longitudinal section their shapewill be regulated by that of the cutting-knife. Now, if a block of woodwere fed eoutinuouslyto a revolving cutting-knife arranged as described,without in termittingly facing off the block, the knife would eventuallybegin cutting at the edge of the block, thus being likely to split orsliver the edges of the articles, and under all circumstances cuttingthe edges so thin and uneven that each plate, dish, or other articlewould require to be faced or finished off before it would be marketable.By my invention these objections are overcome, as I shall now proceedmore fully to describe.

A in thedrawings represents a block of wood from which my improvedplates or dishes are cut. The said block is so prepared that thearticles to be cut therefrom shall be cut across the grain of the woodin order to insure the necessary strength and stability. Suitablemechanism is to be provided for feeding the said block to the knives orcutters, the said feed mechanism being so constructed and adjusted inrelation to the knives or cutters and the latter in relation to eachother that the -feed" shall take place intermittingly after the cuttingknife completes its passageacross the face of the block and before thefacing-knife reaches the edge of the same, the feed being of courseequal to the thickness of the plate or dish to be out.

To illustrate the operation with reference to the drawings, let it besupposed that one or more plates have already been cut from the face ofa block such as shown at A in Figs. at and 5 of the drawings. Thisleaves the block with a cavity, B, in its otherwise smooth and levelface 0. The'cutting knife by its first revolution, the plane of which isindicated by the line D, shaves off a concavo-convex dish, E. The blockis thereupon fed forward the thickness of a dish, when the facing-knife,in

its turn, takes from the face of it a thin shaving or facing. (Shown atF in Fig. 6 of the drawings.) This leaves the face of the block leveland smooth, as before, so that the cutting-knife, following thefacing-knife, will cut from the face of the block another dish E, theline followed by the knife being indicated by letter D. The feed is thenrepeated, so that the facingknife, following on the line G, will cut offan other shaving F, and so on until the material has become exhausted.

It will be seen that by thus alternately cutting and facing off theblock the dishes are all cut with smooth level edges, whereas if thefacing off were omitted the edges would be thin and ragged, as indicatedby the dotted continuations of the curved lines. Moreover, the disheswill be of exactly the same size and shape, as will be clearly seen byreference to the drawings. The waste of material is hardly appreciable,and practically amounts to nothing more than the corners of the block,which must be removed in order to form round or oblong dishes. Bycutting from the face'of the block instead of from the top edge, thecutting-knife is enabled to get a good hold without danger ofsplintering or slivering, as it would be otherwise liable to do,especially in cutting thin articles, such as those hereinbeforementioned.

By the process herein described wooden plates, dishes, and other likearticles may be manufactured in a most excellent manner and at atrifling cost.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States- 1. The herein-described art or method of cuttingconcavo-convex wooden articles or shells continuously from a block,which consists in cutting said shells front the face of the block by asingle pass of a rapidly-revolving knife having both ends secured to theshaft or axis on which it revolves in front of the face of the block, asset forth.

,2. In the art of cutting concavo convex wooden aiticles or shellscontinuously from a block, the herein-described process of facing offthe said block by means of a straight knife or cutter which is securedat an angle to and revolves with a shaft located in a line with the lineof feed, substantially as set forth.

3. The herein described art or process of cutting concavo convex woodenarticles or.

shells continuously from ablock, which @011 sists in alternately cuttinga shell from the face of said block and facing off the block by meanssubstantially as described, as herein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

SETH H. SMITH.

lVitnesses Vii. BAGGER, J. REED LITTELL.

